Cover for pits.



J. C. CROMWELL.

COVER FORIPITS. APPLICATION FILED Ammo. 1908.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 14 El velfaiv l l l Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

.' 4 SHEETS-SHEET z.

im 1H W m, aM. v IH/@w R l J. C. GROMWELL.

COVER POR PITS.

APPLICATION FILED APRJO, 1908. 1,01 3,278.

J. c. CROMWELL.

COVER FOB FITS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 10, 1908.

1,01 3,278, Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3,

6% WM www@ J. G. CROMWELL.

COVER FOR PITS.

' APPLIUATION FILED Ammo, 190s.

' 1,018,278. Patented Jan.2,1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

JOHN C. CROMWEILL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO 'IHE GrARRETT-CROMWELL ENGINEERING COMPANY, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

COVER FOR PITS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

Application filed April 10, 1908. Serial No. 426,212.

State of Chio, have invented a certain new an-d useful Improvement in Covers for Pits,

of which the following is a full, clear, and

eXact description.

The object of the present invention is tol providean improvement in covers for 'pitsj particularly adapted to soaking pits andl similar furnaces.

More particularly it is the purpose of Iny invention to provide mechanism whereby the cover is raised out of contact with the mouth of the pit before being swung laterally away from over the mouth. |The advantages in? obtaining such a movement of the cover are obvious.

of the pit.

The nature of the invention will be more readily understood from the following specip 'fication, reference being ha-d to the accompanying drawings illustrating certain em-l bodiments of my invention, in which;

Figure l is a plan, partly broken away,

showing a cover carried according to my 1nvention, and removed from the mouth of the pit which it is designed to close. Fig. 2 is a plan partly iny section and partly broken away showing the cover in position, and` illustrating the mechanism for reciprocating the supporting truck of the cover. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the cover and its supporting truck and the operating mechanism for reciprocating the truck. Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the operating mechanism taken on the lines 4 4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing a form of truck in which a pivoted anchor is used. Fig. 6 is a similar View showing the truck without an anchor, a heavy Weight being used instead.

' In the various figures I have shown my inv vention in use in connection with a soaking "pit, the general structure of which is not material to the present invention, and I have shown the operating mechanism as mounted on the roof of the flues throug'hwhich the air and gas pass to the pit.

The mechanism comprises fundamentally ay supporting truck Awhich may be of any design consistent with the installation, but

The cover is more readily removed, p and vfurther there is no wear of the refracfv tory lining of either the cover or the mouthy which, in the present instance, I have shown as a two-wheeled truck, that is to say, one having a single axle with wheels at opposite ends. This truck has projecting therefrom rigid supporting. arms A attached to the cover B of the pit. The truck wheels ,A2 ride upon a trackway consistingy of channel beams C preferably provided on their upper si-de with wearing strips C on which the wheels of the truck bear. The reciprocation of this truck back and forth along the trackway of course results in the corresponding reciprocation of the cover carried by the rigid supporting arm, and in order that there may be no dragging action during this reciprocation, the level of the trackway is such that, at all points save that in which the cover is over the mouth of the pit, the truck and its rigid supporting arm will be of `such a height as to hold the cover up away fromV the pit mouth and away from the surrounding mechanism.v

The truck may be prevented from being overturned by the weight of the cover upon the end of the rigid supporting .arm by any suitable means such as the rigid anchor tailpieces D shown in Fig. 3, or in any well known equivalent manner as by a weight G shown in Fig. 6, the essential feature being that the truck be not allowed to be overturned by the cover. A

When the truck is in the position above referred to, illustrated in Fig. 2, in which the cover is centrally over the mouth of the pit, a depression C2 in the tr-ackway, see Figs. l, 5 and 6, permits it to drop to such a level that the cover rests upon the pit mouth making an effective closure of the same; but as soon as the truck is again moved along the track the supporting wheels of the truck ride up out-of the depression, to the track level, and the rigid supporting arm lifts the cover so that it will not drag or strike ,any obstruction during the movement away from over the pit. p

The retaining or anchor means, for preventing overturning, which I have shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 and which is particularly well adapted for use with the two-wheeled truck shown, comprises the rigid tail-pieces D hanging from the truck on the side opposite to that from which the rigid supporting arm projects. The lower ends of these tail-pieces are provided with anchoring devices such as transverse shafts D provided with anti-friction rollers D2 which take underneath the flanges of channel beams along the trackway. Preferably I provide fillers or bearing surfaces in the channel beams for these rollers, and the preferred construction is that in which there are rollers on each side of the tail-piece, each taking under a channel beam, thus avoiding any chance of sidewise displacement of the r tail-piece under great strain. It is obvious,

however, that it is not necessary that these anchors be rigidly attached 'to the truck since they may, as shown in Fig` 5, be swinging or pivoted links D3 hanging fro-m. the rear end of the truck and restrained against too great latitude of movement by a suitable loop or strap DL attached to the track and inclosing the link. Furthermore, inasmuch as the actual purpose of these tailpieces is simply to anchor the truck and restrain it against an overturning by the cover, it is obvious' that the construction of Fig. 6 may be adopted where the measurements of the installation permit. In this construction'I preferably provide an additional set of supporting wheels F to insure the stability, and place a suitable weight Gr thereover. With this arrangement it is necessary that merely the forward wheels of the truck pass into the track depression.

For the purpose of effecting the reciprocation of the truck I have provided a slidn ing carriage H guided in ways beneath the truck and connected thereto by means of a link I-I. The reciprocation of this carriage is effected through the medium of 'a screw H2 slidingly mounted upon a rotating squared shaft H3 and engaging a rack H4 fixed along the trackway. The shaft receives its rotation in the ypresent instance through the medium of a train of gears H5 driven by an electric 'motor H6 mounted upon the frame work.

In the operation of the device, the motor which is under the ready control of the operator is energized to transmit rotary motion to the squared shaft above described, causing the rotation of the sliding screw thereon with the consequent reciprocation thereof, carrying the sliding carriage linked to the truck. Assumingvthe truck to be in a retracted position, and therefore on the normal track level, the rigid supporting arm projecting from the truck will be carried forward, holding the furnace door at a suitable height to avoid contacting with the frame work or other parts of the furnace. Overturning of the truck will be avoided by the anchors above described or by some suitable equivalent means. When the truck moves forward toward the mouth of the pit the door will swing easily over the opening, and at this point the wheels of the truck will drop into the above described depression, thus lowering the truck and its rigid supporting-arm, carrying the door to the level at which the closure of the pit is effected. l

The mechanism is simple, cheap and effective and possesses certain advantages of construction over those devices known in the prior art where rocking levers have been yrelied upon to attain the same r'esult, as

will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

`Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a cover for a furnace mouth, a'truck, supporting wheels for said truck, guide rollers on said truck, tracks for the supporting wheels and guide rollers arranged to cause the truck to move in a substantially straight line, arms projecting forwardly from the truck upon which the cover is mounted, means for Yreciprocating the truck, said tracks having detents arranged to permit the truck wheels to drop to cause the truck to be lowered when the cover is over the mouth of the furnace; substantially as described.

2. In a device of the' character described, a cover for a furnace `mouth, a truck,

wheels on which said truck is supported, a pair of arms projecting forwardly from said truck upon which the cover is mounted, a track for guiding the truck, depressions in said track into which the wheels may pass,

and thereby deposit the cover on the fiirnace top, means for counterbalancing the cover, and means for reciprocating the truck.

3. In a device of the character described, a cover for a furnace mouth, a truck, wheels on which said truck is supported, a pair of arms projecting forwardly from said' truck upon which the cover is mounted, a track for guiding the truck, depressions in said track into which the wheels may pass and thereby deposit the cover on the furnace top, a V weight carried by said truck in position to counterbalance the furnace cover and arms, and means for reciprocating the truck.

4;. In a device of the character described,

a cover for a furnace mouth, a truck having I Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. l 

